S.A. history captured in photos

In this image from the 1920s, readers of "Downtown San Antonio" can look over the shoulder of this unknown man at Alamo Plaza.

Photo By Courtesy Arcadia Publishing

"Downtown San Antonio" is a new book of historic photos by local amateur historians Joan Marston Korte and David L. Peche.

Photo By Courtesy Arcadia Publishing

This float representing Mexico was in the Parade of Nations on April 20, 1927.

Photo By Courtesy photo

Gardens & Villa, a California synth-pop group.

Photo By Courtesy Arcadia Publishing

Italian-born Jose Cassiano moved to San Antonio in the 1820s and opened a store. Before the attack on the Alamo, he sent message on Mexican troop movements to Travis.

Photo By Fort Sam Houston Museum

A second lieutenant fresh out of West Point, Dwight Eisenhower was stationed in 1915 at Fort Sam Houston, where he met Mamie Dowd and courted her with Mexican dinners on San Antonio's West side and dancing on the roof of the St. Anthony Hotel.

Did you know that in 1912 a group called the Alamo Heroes Monument Association had plans drawn up for a soaring 802-foot monument the size of the Eiffel Tower that would have dwarfed every building around it, including the one it was meant to memorialize? (Funding fell through.) Or that Sunken Garden is sunken because it was once the site of a cement company's quarry? Or that San Pedro Park is second only to Boston Common as the oldest park in the country? Quick, what was the first restaurant on our River Walk? That would be Casa Río, founded in 1946.

The authors have a book-signing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Twig Book Shop at Pearl Brewery.

“The book is a labor of love,” Korte said in a recent email. “I am passionate about my city. As I approach the autumn of my life, I wanted to leave something behind that people would enjoy. I wanted to add photos that people might not have seen and information to captions that people might not have ever heard about.”

According to Peché, a 1978 Central Catholic High School graduate, many of the images in the book, broken up into eight sections such as “Missions and Churches” and “Buildings and Commerce,” have never been published. A favorite photo, taken sometime in the 1920s of a man sitting on the roof of what is now Rivercenter mall overlooking Alamo Plaza, was purchased on eBay for $4.

“It was a glass slide,” the native San Antonian said by phone. “It cost $80 to get it cleaned up and transferred. But it's worth it because it's a very intimate image. It's like you are looking over his shoulder. What is he thinking? What does the future hold?”

Peché said images came from friends, family members, antiques stores — a variety of sources.

“The photo of JFK at Kelly came from my mom,” he said. “A lot of these photos have never or rarely been seen before. I think it's important to put them all together to give back to our city.”

Gathering the images and writing the extended captions in “Downtown San Antonio,” which is really about the entire city, not just downtown, took “a lot of pounding the pavement,” Peché said.

In the book's foreword, Mayor Julián Castro calls the story of San Antonio “a tale of profound history, robust growth, a unique cultural blend and friendly accessibility.”

“Downtown San Antonio” is a must for San Antonio history buffs, but even the authors know it's not the complete picture.

“I believe the book is well-balanced, though,” Korte said. “I wish we had more room so we could have added the wonderful hospitals and the museums. I guess we will have to get to work on 'Downtown San Antonio II.'”